Tomlison (2001 cited in Hall, Strangman, & Meyer, 2003) states, differentiated instruction (DI) is a teaching theory based on the premise that instructional approaches should vary and be adapted in relation to individual and diverse learners in classrooms. Belief—Confidence in the students' capacity to succeed through hard work and support—what Dweck (2008) calls a "growth mindset"; the conviction that it is the students' committed work rather than heredity or home environment that will have the greatest impact on their success. Many instructional approaches enable teachers to attend to a range of readiness needs. Adapted with permission from Carol Tomlinson: Differentiation Central Institutes on Academic Diversity in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia (September 2014). Will they care? It also calls on a teacher to create sense-making tasks for students in which they use important knowledge and skills to explore, apply, extend, and create with essential understandings. It ‘unpacks’ the concept of differentiation by showing the key elements in the concept and relationships among those elements. It is not the case that a person learns best the same way in two different content areas or in two different topics within the same content area. Copyright © 2013 by ASCD. Tomlinson’s (1999) model of differentiation underscores the need to Courtney L. Crim, Kimberly D. Kennedy, & Jenifer S. Thornton 73 Volume 22, Number 2, Fall 2013 identify and create space for multiple intelligences to foster individual interest(s) and student learning profiles in the classroom. Further, they can't apply, transfer, or create with "knowledge" they don't understand—even if they do recall it (National Research Council, 2000; Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011; Wiggins & McTighe, 1998). It reminds teachers that every student should regularly encounter tasks that reflect the teacher's belief that the student is worthy and capable of grappling with and applying important ideas and skills—that the student is a critical thinker who can bring her skills to bear on addressing difficult issues and solving complex problems. It asks teachers to know their students well so they can provide each one with experiences and tasks that will improve learning. (Do I understand what I'm asked to learn? All of these elements can be differentiated to address students' readiness needs, their interests, and their learning profiles or preferences. Understanding requires students to learn, make sense of, and use content. The Maker Model is a practical model of curriculum differentiation. Some of the routines and processes help the teacher work efficiently and effectively; others help students work efficiently and effectively. The product. These approaches include, but certainly are not limited to, the following: tiering, small-group instruction, use of reading materials at varied levels of readability, learning contracts, learning centers, compacting, flexible time spans for work, personalized goals, and use of technology to assist students with reading, writing, or other learning needs. When teachers believe unequivocally in the capacity of their students to succeed through hard work and perseverance, it's natural to provide work that complements the capacity of each student to think, problem solve, and make meaning of important ideas. These more defensible approaches to differentiation are unavailable, however, without clear KUDs. In other words, instruction that is effective in moving students ahead from their starting points will (1) benefit from and contribute to a positive learning community, (2) be targeted at helping students acquire and use the specified learning targets (KUDs), (3) be informed by pre-assessment and formative (ongoing) assessment, and (4) necessitate flexible classroom routines and student participation in those routines in a way that accommodates students' varying needs. Maker's model of differentiated curriculum (Maker 1982a, 1982b, 1986) suggests that curriculum needs to be differentiated in terms of: 1. In terms of assessment, it's useful to realize that students are less likely to invest effort in assessments that they see as detached from their lives and experiences, or that are at a level of challenge that is out of sync with their current point of development. Sometimes teacher observation, the goals of the day, and assessment information will indicate that the whole class might benefit from the same instruction. (We are not referring to growth defined by standardized test scores, but rather by a variety of indicators of development in knowledge, understanding, skill, engagement with learning, and autonomy as a learner.) Although that question has no single answer, ample evidence (e.g., National Research Council, 2000; Sousa & Tomlinson, 2011; Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006; Wiggins & McTighe, 1998) suggests that curriculum should, at the very least, have three fundamental attributes. Conversely, lack of engagement leads to inattention, giving up, withdrawal, boredom, and frustration, anger, or self-blame (Skinner et al., 2008). Watch Queue Queue. Carol Ann Tomlinson … Will someone know how I'm doing and how I'm feeling? Assessment would be as natural a diagnostic process in the classroom as it is in a good medical context. Robust teaching links five classroom elements so that each one flows from, feeds, and enhances the others. Those elements are learning environment, curriculum, assessment, instruction, and classroom leadership and management (Tomlinson & Moon, 2013). Only a small portion of it is visible; much more lies beyond our view. Ann Tomlinson’s model of differentiation to determine how Tomlinson’s work may be applied to the teaching of primary language and literacy. In fact, research has repeatedly indicated that a teacher's emotional connection with a student is a potent contributor to academic growth (Allen, Gregory, Mikami, Hamre, & Pianta, 2012; Hattie, 2009). It goes without saying that when 20 or 30 or 40 young people gather in a limited space, the opportunity for some degree of bedlam is quite real. Differentiation programmes that stress choice but do not mitigate the negative effects are therefore probably not going to be effective. Will the work engage and absorb me? Flexible grouping stresses the importance of proactive instructional planning to ensure that students regularly and frequently have the opportunity to work with a wide variety of peers. Will I regularly achieve here things I initially think are out of my reach?). A middle school social studies teacher has created four room arrangements and posted four corresponding seating diagrams on a bulletin board to allow flexibility in presentation and interaction. They attend to the human need to know and be known. Most involve collaborative work between the teacher and the students. I have practiced it for more than 30 years at the primary, middle school, high school, and university levels. In any case, students invest more in or become more engaged with that which interests them. It begins with clearly defining where we want students to go before thinking about how we want them to get there. ), Will I grow in power here? Leading in a differentiated classroom suggests that a teacher has a vision of a classroom where the welfare of each student is paramount, where members come together as a team to achieve important goals—a community designed to support the maximum development of each individual and the group as a whole. Do I bring unique and important abilities to the work we need to do? High-Quality Curriculum. Not only can students not learn in that context, but a teacher can't maintain sanity, either. All rights reserved. When instruction is a good fit for the variety of learners in the classroom, it influences the environment in a positive way, making it a safe place for the risk of learning. Or more precisely, pedagogy is curriculum, because what matters is how things are taught, rather than what is taught" (p. 13). Various scholars (Berger, 2003; Dweck, 2008; Hattie, 2012b; Tomlinson, 2003) have noted that the teacher's response to student needs includes the following: The teacher has the opportunity to issue an irresistible invitation to learn. There is something in the makeup of human beings—teachers included—that resists being "managed.". Among instructional approaches that help students connect required content with their interests are independent studies, interest centers, anchor activities, the RAFT writing strategy, expert groups, Jigsaws, and authentic assessments. including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from ASCD. ( Log Out /  If assessment feels punitive and fails to provide a student with information about how to succeed with important goals, the environment feels uncertain because challenge and support are out of balance. Such an invitation has three hallmarks: (1) unerring respect for each student's value, ability, and responsibility; (2) unflagging optimism that every student has the untapped capacity to learn what is being taught; and (3) active and visible support for student success (Hattie, 2012b; Skinner, Furrer, Marchand, & Kindermann, 2008). They learn responsibility for themselves, for one another, and for class processes and routines. In a differentiated classroom, the teacher's aim is to make the classroom work for each student who is obliged to spend time there. (or the periodic table or cursive writing or planets). No part of this publication—including the drawings, graphs, illustrations, or chapters, except for brief quotations in Model for Differentiation of Instruction on the next page is adapted from Carol Tomlinson’s Model for Differentiation of Instruction. It would be handy to represent differentiation as simply instructional decision making through which a teacher creates varied learning options to address students' diverse readiness levels, interests, and learning preferences. In a workshop for teachers at the University of Virginia, Carol Tomlinson presents her definition of Differentiated Instruction. What differentiated instruction means.Carol Ann Tomlinson is a leader in the area of differentiated learning and professor of educational leadership, foundations, and policy at the University of Virginia.Tomlinson describes differentiated instruction as factoring students’ individual learning styles and levels of readiness first before designing a lesson plan. ment, instruction, and classroom leadership and management (Tomlinson & Moon, 2013). Alexandria, VA 22311-1714. An elementary teacher uses digital video images of geological phenomena to support understanding of students who have no experience with the phenomena and who need to develop academic vocabulary related to the phenomena. student” (Tomlinson & Imbeau, 2010, p. 16). It should be guided by the curriculum's KUDs and shaped by pre- and formative assessment. Students fail to remember much of what they try to drill into their brains by rote recall, even in the short term. Nonetheless, we often err by classifying students according to what we perceive to be their ability and teaching them accordingly. It is the "weather" that affects everything that happens there. Tomlinson's differentiated instruction model Teacher-student connections also pave the way for the teacher to build a collection of disparate individuals into a team with a common cause—maximum academic growth for each member of the group. Figure 1.2 provides an example of each of the five components modified to address each of the three areas of student variance. If teachers strongly believe in the ability of their content and curriculum to improve students' prospects and lives and in the worth and potential of their students, it follows that they would be eager to know how each student is progressing toward achieving important learning goals—and going beyond. Max van Manen (1991) reminds us that the most important pedagogical question a teacher can ask is how a particular learner is experiencing what's being taught. The teacher has assigned him two seats on opposite sides of the room and has worked with him on when and how he can go from one seat to the other to move during whole-class lessons. If teachers routinely began planning student work by developing tasks that would invigorate students who are advanced in a topic or content area and then differentiate by providing scaffolding that enables the range of less advanced learners to work successfully with the advanced-level task, achievement would be accelerated for many other students. Dylan Wiliam (2011) notes, "A bad curriculum well taught is invariably a better experience for students than a good curriculum badly taught: pedagogy trumps curriculum. Differentiated instruction strategies allow teachers to empower and engage students by accommodating each of their different learning styles. This is important to stress because it may not be evident when looking at it holistically Do one activity well, and focusing on quality. ( Log Out /  Thus curriculum focused on engagement and understanding as well as "teaching up" requires a flexible approach to teaching and learning. Tomlinson (2001) identifies three elements of the curriculum that can be differentiated: Content, Process, and Products. Primary students must learn how Earth's rotation and revolution create day and night and season. Engagement in the classroom results when a student's attention is attracted to an idea or a task and is held there because the idea or task seems worthwhile. “The goal of differentiated instruction is to make certain that everyone grows in all key skills and knowledge areas, moving on from their starting points”, Carol Tomlinson's Model of DifferentiationSource: http://blogs.smus.bc.ca/review/2011/12/02/learning-and-the-brain-part-2-postgame/, Carol Tomlinson explains differentiation through her model framework. Students vary … Instructional Strategies That Support Differentiation A Summary of Instructional Strategies from Carol Ann Tomlinson The Differentiated Classroom Carol Ann Tomlinson presents the following strategies in Chapter 7 and 8. Assessment-rich—to better understand where students are throughout the journey in order for the teacher and students to know where to go next, so that each student can move ahead from his or her starting point. This directs us to ensure that each student's work is as interesting and inviting as every other student's work. Monday through Friday Every element in the classroom system touches every other element in ways that build up or diminish those elements and classroom effectiveness as a whole. Will I be increasingly accountable for my own growth and contribution to the growth of others? 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